Note To Ryan Lambert: We’re Not The Idiots

I only grace this fool Lambert with a mention at all because of one assumption he makes that I believe is an egregiously wrong error in interpretation, besides of course the obvious schmuck claim in the title itself that “Dean Lombardi’s lucky sports fans are idiots”.

Aside from arguing that He Who Shall Not Be Paid is the best player in the Pacific Division, something that should be true at some point, but is not true right now (Joe Thornton, Corey Perry, Ryan Getzlaf, Anze Kopitar might have a thing or two to say about it), Lambert asserts that in Dean’s comments to Rich Hammond last week that:

for every day of training camp Doughty does not attend, the Kings’ per-annum offer drops by $24,727.27 — $6.8 million over the 275 work days of the NHL season.

What Dean actually said was:

“The problem we have, and we’re going to have to see how this evolves, is that generally with a player, you establish his market value and he signs up for 275 days of work….

…You’re not getting a full year’s work as of today.”

Question: Meaning the offer gets reduced by however many days he’s not here?

LOMBARDI: “Well, as we talked about before, there has to be some finality, in terms of when the players are supposed to report. It’s no different, I think, than what the other teams have done. It’s, `OK, now we have to regroup here and see what evolves,’ and then I have to go back to ownership. It’s no different than anything else. You do this based on 275 days of work, and now it’s down to 274.”

I will admit that I may be reading this wrong, but my understanding of this is that this statement is in regards to THIS YEAR. Not the total cap hit. The 25K thing wasn’t even said by Lombardi, it was assumed by Hammond. Hammond tells us the offer is $6.8 per year after Helene Elliott & ESPN told us that Dean won’t go higher than Kopitar… which contradicts the very interview Hammond gives us where Lombardi says:

It’s no secret that he would be at the top of our team.

Which indicates they might have offered him a higher salary than Kopitar. It’s unclear. Last month at development camp Lombardi did specifically say he would consider making He Who Shall Not Be Paid a higher earner than Kopitar.

But back to the 274 (now 272) days of work deal. Unless I am the one reading this incorrectly, the idea is that this particular year, wunderkind makes less than what was offered for the year (let’s also remember that cap hit does not equal a specific year’s salary – we may assume that he was offered 6.8 average cap hit, but that does not mean he was offered $6.8 million this year… that number could be higher or lower, so again, the 25k per day thing is bogus).

Ultimately, we are all basing these ideas off things that Rich Hammond said, not things that Dean Lombardi said, because Lombardi never said the overall offer would be reduced every day based off a percentage of 275 days presumed work. He did specifically say:

You’re not getting a full year’s work as of today.

The only conclusion that we can truly draw, as with most of Lombardi’s interviews, is that we are speculating as to many of the specifics. Lombardi may have “made the negotiations public” but he certainly has not disclosed any details as to what the offer is or how this so-called “holdout” affects the entirety of the deal.

Now I will say the only line that contradicts my opinion is this one:

You do this based on 275 days of work, and now it’s down to 274.

That is the only line you could interpret as referring to the year to year basis of the salary. This seems to indicate a threat, one that would say that because He Who Shall Not Be Paid missed X numbers of days of work this year, he will be deducted that same amount of days of pay for every year of the contract.

So since there is so much up in the air, let’s just all agree on something that we can know to be certain.

38 replies

You are correct in regards to Lombardi’s comments on Drew losing 25k per day he’s not in camp. This is not a Dean playing hardball issue. Its in the CBA. The players contract covers 275 days of work. When the player, by choice and not injury, refuses to work one of those days, his salary for that day is not paid. And yes, it only applies to the year in which the player missed the work.

Thanks for replying on thus article. I spent a good half an hour today trying to find an email address for this idiot. Has this clown ever seen the Kings play? Has he ever seen Kopitar play. What a jacka$$.

I wonder that too. If you can’t at least make a good case for Kopitar as the top player on the team, and as one of the top centers in the league, you haven’t been watching.

I’ve also seen the suggestion in several (clearly uninformed) places that the Kings brought in Richards to drive the offense, with the intention of Kopitar playing second fiddle, and anybody who thinks that has just shown their complete ignorance of Kopitar and the Kings. The intent of bring in Richards is pretty clear: Draw opposing defensive attention, and our own defensive responsibility, away from Kopitar, in the hopes that he can now focus on blossoming into the truly dangerous first line center that we have all seen flashes of.

Now I do. I think my head was still thinking about the Mayweather/Ortiz fight and Jim Lampley was in my head. Lambert. Lampley, you get Lampert. But if you want to discount the article based on a logical fallacy, I won’t stop you.

Yeah. Totally off base. Lombardi really didn’t take the negotiations public. In fact, if you look at the actual interview, he didn’t really confirm or deny any of the offers that have been rumored. The only thing that was done was to use the strongest of the rumored offers as an example, and I believe that was Hammond, not Lombardi, who did that.

Really, all Lombardi did was say “things are more complicated now because technically he is missing work and we are within our rights to dock his pay for that, like any other employee of any other business.”

Doesn’t matter when you’re addressing or referring to someone whom has earned no respect, especially when comparing one person to an entire legion of fans dedicated to a sports team. My guess is, and this is based entirely on Bobby’s keen intellect and writing style so often and gracefully displayed in the past, that the mispelling was done on purpose.

Even if it weren’t, like I said – it doesn’t matter. Lampert is a douche.

I’ll admit, I didn’t do it on purpose. At best it was an amusing fruedian slip, at worst an honest mistake in trying to quickly write the article before having to run out of the office and do things I get paid to do.

I do find it curious how many people take it so gravely. I guess form over substance is the name of the internet game.

I feel compelled to point out to you that every major newspaper makes typos and minor errors ad in fact has a small column they bury in the back to announce those mistakes and corrections. Consiter your point moot for that reason and for my having no interest in being or considered a journalist. I’m a man with opinions who likes words so he writes them in his spare minutes at work and at home. If you would like to pay me then perhaps I might consider taking a more hard lined approach to proofreading.

I am far more concerned about Surly’s gratutious compliment (and high honor) shown to Getzlaf and, for goodness sake, Corey Perry…and notice he put Getzlaf and Perry before Kopitar in that sentence. Very disconcerting.

Glad someone caught on to that. It was meant as emphasis on how strongly I don’t feel that our wunderkind defenseman isn’t the best player in the division. So much so that I will give credit to not one, but two Ducks.

I just finished reading Lambert’s article. It was tough to get through. His writing style is like watching old people fuck. His idea of analysis is three conclusions, one in the of form of a statement, one framed in the form of what he considers to be a rhetorical question and one in the form of sarcasm. I am guessing that makes up for a lack of knowledge about the subject. Greg must be very forgiving to have him around because Greg’s articles are on a different planet of quality compared to that of Lambert.

My thought after reading this Post is
If you practice law for a living you have to earn the Big Bucks to :

Pay for your Migraine meds
Alcohol and other relaxation therapy
Therapy to make sure you have not gone ove the Edge

Trying to read and interprut all the leaglese of just Deano’s short clip is
both mentally exhausting and stimulating at the same time.. to do this for a living..ahhh

My simple take is DEAN is refering to this current year and not the entire contract of HWSNBP.
I would think the yearly contract starts when a player reports for ‘duty’ each season and
that would have been Friday when the physical and testing were done.

As for all the posters concerned with the spelling of the moronic writer’s name..
lighen up.. not basis of this post ..and these guys can write circles around the majority of
all of us..
GO KINGS GO!!!

It’s obvious Mr. Landsend is simply doing the exact thing that Richard Cloutier and others have figured out – talk shit about the Kings and you’re guaranteed a ton of hits to your page. I take this sort of garbage as a compliment now. Just as the east coasters have begun to notice the Kings getting better, they’re also beginning to recognize the size, dedication, and knowledge of this fan base.

… There’s FAR more right about that article than wrong, and even what’s wrong in it is open to interpretation and reading between the lines. Just because you have a different spin on what Dean said doesn’t make you any m,ore right than someone else.

And, this part of it was awesome:

“And to accuse him of being disloyal to the team is, simply put, stupid. People often like to say things such as, “This is a business,” but that’s not the case, apparently, in times like these. Fans would rather Doughty gladly take less money than he’s worth just because the GM says he should.”

And while I try to act humble for the sake of fairness, since we can all be wrong even when discussing things we like to pretend are facts, but its not interpretation of something Dean said. It is a matter of fact that the kid is missing out on days of work and therefore missing out on pay days for any contract he signs. That’s not open for interpretation.

People would rather our best player care more about skating in camp and preparing for the season rather than about making a statement for his agent and for the NHLPA, and squabbling over amounts of money that are insignificant to 99% of the world when taken into context with the overall of the contract he is so lucky to have in front of him.

Its not because the GM said he should. You know general rationale does play in to this, its not just a choosing of sides because you are either some sheep who follows the GM or a rube who thinks these players have it rough and need support in getting their extra chunk of massive change.

I am constantly shocked that you are a King fan. You side with Duck fans when they tout their cup in our faces, you have a disdain for management (ie: the team) and side with individual players more often than not, and now you support a guy who claims our fanbase is full of idiots.

It would be true, if we were anywhere close to Doughty taking “less money than he’s worth.” This is the kind of market-in-a-vacuum thought process that is currently having it’s way with… the whole country. I’m sorry, but your worth and value are not always the same thing as how much you can get on the open market. Especially when you are NOT on the open market!!! If he were UFA right now, you’d have a leg to stand on. As an RFA of the LA KIngs, he’s worth exactly as much as they decide to pay or not pay him. It is a free country, so if he wants to hardball on the 5 year term and actually hit the open market sooner, then he has that right. If that’s the case, he can ask to be traded right now.

No the problem is that what you think he is worth and what most fans think he is worth is different. As a matter of fact, other than a few muck rakers (journalists looking to garner some controversy to drive up hits to their sites), it seems that a fair majority of people in the hockey world also believe that Doughty is overreaching with this negotiation.

Most of all, I still resent people that keep talking about DD as the Kings best player. I still remember Kopi’s first game where he turned Chris Pronger inside out and scored a goal. He has carried this team since his first NHL game and rounded it out to become one of the premier two-way centers in the league. Look at the guys that Kopi routinely plays against – he shuts down guys like the Getzlaf and the Sedins, and he still gets his points. Doughty has great potential, but to me, Kopi is still the man. As a matter of fact, you have to wonder if Doughty would have had as much success if Kopi was not on this team.

The real questions here are, how did the second day of training camp go? How did Hunter look on the first line? Does Kozun really look good enough to make the team? Does Penner truly have rabbit feet (quickness), as referred to by Kopitar? Who’s our second pairing on d? Will any of the new additions; Ethan, Trent or the dude from Edmonton (name seems to be escaping me) displace Westgarth on the 4th line? How has Parse looked so far? Is Kopitar 100% recovered?….how does his skating look? You know, shit like that.